"He said, 'I messed up, in a nutshell, I messed up. I just want to reach out and say I'm sorry,'" Pat Guenther, a Milwaukee bar owner who was on the receiving end of one of the calls, told WDJT. "I cut him off right there. I said you know Ryan, I think you're an amazing athlete and this speaks volumes to your character to reach out to a small business owner like myself and let us know that you are going to do better."

Major League Baseball suspended Braun for the Brewers' final 65 games this season after he reportedly agreed not to appeal a ban. Braun later issued a written admission and apology, and he reportedly has spoken with teammates, but he has not discussed the suspension with the media.

According to The Associated Press, Wes Aldridge, 58, of Muskego, Wisc., got a call at his office, a phone number he had provided to the Brewers as a season ticket holder. Aldridge was skeptical when the caller said he was Ryan Braun.

"I looked around at the other phones in the office to see who was messing with me," he said Friday.

Aldridge said he didn't waste any time getting to the question on the mind of many Brewers' fans. Why would he take a banned substance?

"The only thing he said was he had a friend that gave him the item and he didn't think it would do any harm at that time," Aldridge said.

The calls started Thursday.

"It was his idea," said Rick Schlesinger, the Brewers' chief operating officer. "He came to us and said he wanted to call fans," including season ticket holders, partial season ticket holders and individual buyers.

The Brewers turned over a list of several dozen random names, Schlesinger said.

"He said he wanted to call everybody on the list," Schlesinger added.

After Braun started making calls, the Brewers began to hear from some of the fans he called, according to Tyler Barnes, the Brewers vice president of communications.

"They were appreciative of the outreach. The vast majority were appreciative of it. We think it's a nice gesture on Ryan's part. We realize some are going to be grateful and others are going to be a little more hesitant," Barnes said.